The Last Train?

I walked to the station today to buy tickets for a train journey tomorrow. I know that sounds like a waste of time but when you are retired everything is different. I used the machine to show that I'm not an old duffer and took great care to buy a ticket for tomorrow and not today and with a senior railcard reduction, unfortunately I didn't take as much care to buy a return and not just a single (which costs almost as much!). So I went to the human being in the ticket office to put it right. The young lady customer in front of me was finishing buying hers and said;
'What time is the last train back?
The clerk replied: 'Ten past midnight.'
As the young lady said; 'That's fine' I imagined a bell chiming and said out loud;
'Beware, Cinderella!
The young lady flushed bright red, turned round and seemed relieved that there was a natural explanation for the voice. covered with embarrassment she said:
'I was just thinking that.'
I wonder did I just made a casual joke or had I been a prophetic warning to her?
She moved on and I explained my inadequacy with the machine and the clerk sorted me out a return ticket and I started my walk home. But I continued to ponder the situation with the ten-past-midnight scenario. After I had exhausted all my Cinderella moments and contemplated what was the message of the story of Cinderella - they often carry a moral. I moved on to thinking about the fact that ten-past-midnight is another day. Would the ticket still be valid? etc.
BOING! Like a bell going off my mind hit a thought with a ringing clang. Did the clerk give me a ticket for tomorrow or today? I found the tickets, they were dated for today! I was halfway home and I would have to go back!
Was the prophetic warning for me and not her? I had the red face now and had to ask yet again for help with the simplest job! Thank goodness I didn't leave it till the last moment, when I shall be in a hurry, tomorrow. I might have missed the last train!
I think the moral is: Never loose track of the time - even if it is going very well.

The First Post

It isn't difficult to combine the two themes of my blog. Water and the Spirit go together like peaches and cream or home and away. They are natural bed-fellows and yet contrasting.
I'm a boater so water for me is not just about drinking and washing, it is also a means of transport. And I'm a priest (CofE, retired) so the Spirit is not just about religious experiences or creepy thoughts about death, he is also someone I work with, or rather, under.
So my ideal relaxation is being buoyed along in the gentle arms of water while meditating on the subtle work of the Holy Spirit. But I am also aware that the gentle arms of water can quickly turn into a terrifying, ferocious torrent, and the subtle brooding of the holy dove can sometimes become the frighteningly insistent roar of an angry lion!

 In the picture my wife swims past our little boat in tranquil waters.

A Prayer

O Holy Spirit who hovered over the waters of creation;

creatively hover over us

to guide, protect and comfort,

through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.